Back to life, back to reality

Winter break is drawing to a close, and I am thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I love to slough off as much as the next person, but enough is enough. Back to work, people!

Perhaps one of the reasons that I'm not too upset about returning to work is that I feel that I have gotten in a sufficient amount of knitting. I was able to finish irritating wips, do some yarn store browsing (and purcha$ing) , learn new techniques and begin new projects. I did it all, and now I'm ready for a break from my break!


One project I was able to begin was the very challenging, white knuckle knitting experience that is known as the Endpaper Mitts. Eunny Jang is an expert knitter, and her pattern shows it! I was fine until the 'increase in pattern' part sent me into major meltdown mode and straight to my LYS.

Luckily someone was there who has a lot of expertise in this area, and she was a huge help. I finished the first one earlier today and am getting ready to cast on for the second one. I did mine out of Wool in the Woods 'Cherub' (More than Mint and Red Red Wine) from my stash. One thing that greatly facilitated this project was the purchase of the Knit picks Chart Keeper, a magnetic chart holder that allows you to focus on one row at a time. Think of it as Ritalin in office supply form--just there to keep you focused and on task. It arrived while I was in the midst of the project and things sped up significantly when I began using it. For less than $10, this was totally worth it.

Pesky wip department: The little baby hat you see was originally meant to be a Swedish folk mitten....yeah, then I got real and decided that it would make a lovely baby doll hat! I mean, I'd like to think of myself as the type of person that has the patience to knit a Swedish folk mitten, but I'm just not there yet. This was one of my first small scale stranding projects, and you can see that the tension is a little wonky.




I managed to finish a hat for the elder kiddie winkie. I did this out of some Dale of Norway Falk Neon--love the insane saturated brilliance of the yarn in this line. No, your monitor is not playing tricks on you, that's the actual color of the yarn. This was a fun hat to make, but again, you see that the tension is still an issue...



I also finished the sweater for the youngest one. You might recall that she had requested a blue sweater with white snow flakes--well, here it is. I made it out of Kraemer Summit Hill, a perfectly versatile super wash wool that is economical, but, well, boring. There's nothing wring with this yarn, it's just, well, totally average. Give me the thrilling softness of Lorna's Laces any day over this humdrum stuff. But she loves her sweater, so I am happy. The body was a cinch to complete, but the sleeves, that's another story. I've decided that sleeves are the second sock of the sweater knitting world. They inspire dread and take f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

The decks are now sufficiently cleared for my next insane undertaking. Some of you guessed it...it's the Knit Picks Palette Fair Isle Cardigan. Yes, apparently I am crazy, but I just can't resist giving this enticing project a whirl. I already know that I must be nuts because my first task is to cast on over 280 stitches of black yarn on size 2 needles. Yikes. Here's hoping that I have the stamina to finish this before Easter!